General Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Halo games, story line or characters. Nor do I own the rights to the characters of Ranma 1/2. I do this totally for my own entertainment and the entertainmentof others. I get nothing out of this but the ejoyment of the review and stats.
UNSC Calendar: September 24th, 2517, Time: 0530, Location: Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach, Military Reservation 01478-B.
Ranma had been up since a little after five am and was already washed and changed when dozens of men and women came into the bunk house followed by the man who had been standing on the stage the night before next to the doctor. All the other men and women paid no mind to Ranma sitting on his footlocker and went to stand at the end of a bed. The man, whose name Ranma saw was Mendez, came and stood before him a small smile on his lips.
"An early riser are you trainee?" Mendez asked in something similar to an amused voice.
"No sir, just looking forward to finally getting a proper workout again sir." Ranma replied, his time with Lieutenant Keye's had taught him several things about military protocol and as it seemed Mendez was in charge then he needed to be addressed properly.
"Hmmm, 012-Ranma, ah you're the trainee that volunteered, I know your file trainee. We are going to be watching you, if your too high over the rest you'll get special individual training until they catch up and don't even think for a moment that they wont, you may be good but they can be better," With that Mendez turned to the rest of the children gathered an impressive breath and bellowed "WAKE UP, TRAINEE!"
Several children jerked up out of bed in surprise, some falling to the floor in a mess of blankets and limbs, others just rolled over to try and escape the noise. The other men and women that had come in before Mendez pulled out small batons and poked the children in the feet with them. There was obviously a charge emitted by the batons as the children who had kept sleeping were shocked awake, most fell off their cots with less grace than the others.
"I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez," Mendez shouted from his place next to Ranma. "The rest of these men and women are your instructors. You will do exactly as we tell you at all times."
Mendez pointed towards the far end of the bunk house "Showers are aft. You will wash and then return here to dress." he waved a hand at Ranma "012 here is already dressed and because of that he gets an extra helping at dinner, first two to join him out here dressed and ready will also get an extra helping." The children stood gawking at Ranma sitting on his footlocker fully dressed in the gray sweats that had his name stencilled on them.
Ranma caught Johns eye and frowned slightly at the boy as he wasn't moving, he mouthed the word go at him. John finally got the clue and started towards the rear of the barracks. Several other children started to follow his example but some others were a bit slow in reacting. They got shocked again for their trouble.
"No slacking trainee! On the double!" Mendez yelled once more as the last of the children began to half shuffle, half trot towards the showers.
It was only a short few minutes later when the first children began to trot out of the shower rooms. Now more awake from the ice cold rinse at the end of the procedure. The first two ready were John-117 and the lanky girl Ranma had spotted the night before Kelly-087. In the light coming from the overhead fluorescent bulbs Ranma saw she had her hair dyed blue. Ranma made a mental note to keep close too these two children. As the three waited for the other trainee's to finish their showers Ranma decided to do a quick meet and greet. Walking up to Kelly he stuck out his hand.
"Hey I'm Ranma." He said in a cheerful but still quite tone.
"Kelly." The girl replied shortly as she accepted the handshake.
"This is John, I reckon us three should keep together, maybe get some of the others together. Best chance to not get zapped is to stick together," Ranma explained to the two children. "Since old man up there has singled us three out we may have to work groups of three so lets do our best to keep in the same group." Ranma couldn't say any more beyond that because by the time he was don discussing his thoughts the rest of the children had emerged from the shower rooms.
"Outside, trainees," Mendez announced. "Triple time... march!"
Ranma and the other children stampeded out of the barracks onto a strip of grass. Outside the sky was still grey with only a slight tinge of the rising sun on the horizon. A pair of jets screamed overhead and in the distance a metallic crackle could be heard.
Mendez stood in front of the children, a hard look on his face, "Five equal-length rows. Fifteen trainees in each row," He waited several second as the children slowly shuffled into place. "Straighten those rows. You know how to count to fifteen, trainee? Take three steps back."
Ranma, John and Kelly joined the second row.
"Star jumps!" Mendez shouted suddenly. "Count off to one hundred! Ready, GO!" With that he started to count. One of the children refused to do the exercises; they got a stun baton in the side for their trouble. A pair of trainers did the exercises with the children, probably to prove a point that it could be and would be done. No excuses.
After the star jumps there was a brief pause as the trainers at the front shifted into a lying down position with their legs in a bent position. The children followed their example only from exhaustion. The Mendez was in front of them again.
"Sit-up's, now!" He yelled as the trainers started the new drill. "Count off to one hundred. Any trainee who quits runs the compound twice then comes back and does two hundred. Ready, GO!"
Deep squats were next on the list. Followed shortly by knee lifts.
John and Kelly both vomited, Ranma could feel the urge coming on. Not even the training that Genma had put him through had been this repetative and unflexible. Sure Genma had made Ranma do marathons of nothing but a certain exercise but never hundreds upon hundreds of different repetitions at such high speed with out pause.
By the time Mendez called an end to the hellish exercises Ranma had lost control of his stomach and finally bought up what little food he had left in his system. He crouched on the ground on his hands and knee's breathing deeply, sweat poring off his forehead and making stinging his eyes. Shaking his head to try and clear the slight dizziness bought on by the exercise Ranma took a look at John and Kelly.
John was in much the same state as Ranma if breathing substantially heavier, Kelly was on her back, eyes closed, hand on her forehead and stomach taking deep calming breaths. Ranma smiled.
These two pick up recovery techniques fairly quickly and they held out on vomiting almost as long as I did. Ranma was silently congratulating himself for his decision to befriend the other two children. He knew he would have to befriend every other one of the 75 children in order to be able to meet the goal that the Doctor had in mind for them all, even if he didn't really understand much about what she wanted he understood enough of what she'd asked of him during their travels to be able to tell it was very important.
Ranma became aware that Mendez was saying something to the trainers, lifting his head to look in their direction and saw that they were dispensing bottles of water amongst the other children. He took the one offered to him and drank greedily of it. The water was warm and slightly salty but he didn't care, it was the best water he'd had in his life at that point in time.
Once the majority of the trainees were breathing normally Mendez was in front of them all again looking as fresh as he had when he had woken the children that morning despite doing the exercises with them.
"Fall in trainees, its time for a short jog!" Mendez yelled and before turning and setting a brisk but not totally gruelling pace, if the children were fresh. As it was it took a few prods from the trainers to get all the children moving.
Ranma tried to think things through a bit more carefully and plan who to befriend from the children next but before he could focus properly on any of the other children he found himself panting and the blood pound in his ears as he struggled to stay jogging.
The 'short jog' turned out to be over two miles, down a winding stone path and past the length of the air strip with all the incoming and outgoing air traffic blowing over their heads amidst pounding downdrafts and ear splitting jet roars. Finally they came to a staggering halt in front of tall white building with the words 'Naval Officers Academy' chiselled into the arch above the entrance.
A woman of indeterminate age stood on the top step looking down over them all, Ranma shivered when he looked at her. She's an AI he thought That's why she has no aura, she's an AI the lack of a living aura, despite her appearance of being a fully functioning human, disturbed Ranma more than he cared to admit.
"Excellent work Chief Petty Officer Mendez," she said in a smooth as silk voice. She turned to the children who were just getting their breath back again. "Welcome. My name is Déjà and I will be your teacher. Please come in. Class is about to start."
Ranma and several other children groaned at the prospect.
She simply turned and started to walk inside. "Of course," she said, "if you prefer to skip your lessons, you may continue the morning calisthenics."
Ranma joined the other children in double timing it up the stairs without further complaint.
The inside of the building was cool and small trays of crackers and milk had been set out for each of the children. Ranma ate his food quickly but still felt hungry. When Déjà started to show them all a holographic projection of three hundred soldiers standing against the seemingly endless tides of Persian infantry and winning.
Déjà explained the history of the time and the people that fought. The three hundred men were all Spartans. Trained to fight and kill since their earliest days they were the best soldiers the world had ever known. No one could match them.
"That's all for today," Déjà said. "We'll continue tomorrow and I'll show you some wolves. Now its time for you to go to the playground." Most of the other children perked up at the mention of a playground but Ranma caught an underlying tone of amusement in the AI's voice and was instantly wary. He followed the stampede of children outside slowly.
Chief Petty Officer Mendez was waiting for them, so were their trainers.
"Time for the Playground," Mendez said, and waved the children closer. "It's a short run. Fall in."
It was a further two miles, following a different course from the one they had taken from their calisthenics area but eventually they came to a stop in front of the 'Playground'. It was like nothing Ranma had ever seen in his life. A veritable jungle of poles, cargo nets, bridges and climbing ropes that all swayed in the wind. There were even some pulley systems set up that looked to hoists baskets sturdy enough to carry several children. Overall Ranma was impressed.
"Trainees," Mendez said, "form three lines."
Ranma and the other children stepped into line without complaint. Compliance was quickly being learnt by them all.
"The first person in each row will be team number one," Mendez informed them, "the second will be team number two... and so on. If none of you understand this speak up now."
The children remained silent.
Ranma glanced to his left. Kelly was in his team but John was two people behind them in the sixth team. Instead Kelly and Ranma were joined by a rather plain looking girl with Linda-058 stencilled onto her top. Ranma gave Kelly a quick smile and caught the eyes of Linda. An instant recognition was established between them and Ranma knew he could count on her to pull through in a tough spot so quickly focused his attention back on Mendez.
"Today's game," Mendez explained, "is called 'Ring the Bell.'" He pointed to the tallest poll in the Playground. Easily an additional ten meters taller than the others. Hung at the top was a heavy looking brass bell.
"There are many ways to get to the bell," he told them all, "I leave it up to each team to find their own way. When every member of your team has rung the bell, you are to get groundside double time and run back here across this finish line."
Mendez used his baton to scratch a long line in the sand.
John raised his hand and Ranma silently cursed him.
Mendez stared hard at the boy before asking. "A question, Trainee?"
"What do we win?"
Mendez cocked an eyebrow at the question and his eyes seemed to bore even further into the child. "You win dinner, Number 117. Tonight, dinner is roast turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies, and ice cream."
An excited murmur started to run through the children.
"But," Mendez added, "for there to be winners there must be a loser. The last team to finish goes without."
The silence was quick and painful. Suddenly the other children were more wary of each other.
Ranma quickly started to make a plan of action to get them all fed tonight but it would require a potential sacrifice on his teams part to get a win for them all.
"I think I know a way to get all of us food but we have to be able to convince the others into going along with it. Plus we gotta get to the bell first to pass on the plan." Ranma quickly said to the two girls on his team.
"Why not just win and let someone take a fall?" Kelly asked.
"Did those Spartans let a man fall just so they could live?" Ranma asked, his voice as hard as a six year old child could make it.
"No, but..." Kelly attempted lamely.
"There is nothing else to it, no one is gonna loose, we all gonna win this." Ranma stated with surety.
Linda nodded and Kelly shortly followed her example.
"Make ready!" Mendez said.
"I'll explain as we run." Ranma said quickly, his attention focused almost totally on Mendez.
"Go!" Mendez shouted.
The children dispersed in an unruly mob. The only groups with any sign of cohesion were Ranma's and John's. The two groups ran side by side for a short while as Ranma explained the plan of action he had in mind and they all helped one another through the confusing maze of ropes and bridges. Moving ever closer to their goal.
"I want every last kid to approach the line as one group. We all walk across the line at the same time we either all loose or we all win. I'm gonna gamble we all win. They want us to be a complete team most of all not just small groups." Ranma explained as they traversed a bridge that threatened to spill them into icy water.
"How do you know so much 'bout what Meandez wants?" A dark skinned boy with Fhajad-084 stencilled on his jersey asked.
"Travelled with the Doc for a while 'fore comin to here she told me stuff." Ranma said with a slight shrug.
"You wasn't just picked up in the middle of the night?" Another boy, with Kurt-051 written on his top, asked.
"Na they came and asked ma folks if they could take me just after breakfast one mornin'" Ranma replied casually.
"What about your parents?" Kelly asked.
"May never see them again but as a martial artist my life belongs to the people and this place will give me what I need to follow the code." Ranma stated calmly as if it were all obvious.
"You know kung fu?" John asked incredulously.
"A little bit but mostly Kempo and the family style. But nuf of that we gotta job ta do, now you guys understand the plan?" Ranma asked seriously.
A general chorus of ascent from the other children and Ranma nodded then looked to their destination. It seemed they would be first to reach it. "We go up one at a time and ring the bell, others stop any new comers and explain the plan." When he received nods from the all he pushed forward a little faster to secure the way and make sure they could reach the pole without trouble.
There was need for only two detours from their original line and the group was still the first to reach the pole. Ranma was the first on site so the first to ring the bell quickly followed by Fhajad. By the time Kelly, who was fifth in line to ring the bell, was making her way up the rope to the bell half of the children had arrived at the site and were quickly being made aware of the plan. Few were disagreeable to the idea. Those who were quickly got silenced by the children around them.
After what seemed a small eternity to Ranma all the children had made it to the pole and rung the bell. Now it was just a matter of getting 75 children to step in time over a line only a few feet across. Once on the ground he and the others from John and his group managed to coerce the children into linking arms in the best attempt at getting them to march in time that they could come up with.
After a few false starts they children were able to set a brisk pace across the Playground to the finish line. Ranma watched Chief Petty Officer Mendez the entire time they approached. His face seemed chiselled from stone aside from the single eyebrow that rose at the sight of 75 six year old children marching in step over the finish line.
Mendez scanned the line quickly with his sharp dark eyes. His eyes settled on both Ranma and John for a short period of time before barking suddenly. "Numbers 117 and 012. Front and center." Ranma and John hurried to comply. "So a fancy little tactic you thought up here," Mendez paused but neither child spoke, "commendable also that you didn't let a single person suffer just for the sake of yourself. It seem's the lesson from Déjà settled in faster than I thought it would," once again he paused to regard them both, "you will all eat tonight. Good work, Trainee's."
With that announcement Mendez turned and walked away, leaving the children to be herded towards the mess hall where they all got to stuff themselves on turkey soaked in gravy and creamy mashed potatoes. All followed by an abundance of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. The whole time in the mess hall Ranma either ate or talked with the children he had met that day, making friendships he knew would be needed if they were going to become like the Spartans from the hologram.
When they left the mess hall for their bunk house most of the children were starting to fall asleep standing upright, Ranma included, and they were all looking forward to their beds. Despite all his previous training Ranma was exhausted, mentally and physically, the events of the day had taken a huge toll and it was only the beginning.
Ranma, like the other children, was asleep as soon as his head hit the flat pillow on his bed.
A/N: OK so first things first, I know this chapter sucks and I know I took forever to get it out. Sorry. It was a hard one to write but I feel it was needed. Those who know the books will be able to spot the parts which are the same but will also be able to spot how much Ranma's interference is changing things already.
It should also be noted that the children are smarter than what a six year old should be. Keep in mind the year is 2517 kids could be smarter then be default and also these kids have been picked cause their cream of the crop. Ranma knows so much because he spent over a month with the Doc, she took him into confidence so he could prepare the other kids to hopefully up the success rate of the later augmentation.
Please review.
Till next time. Ja Ne.
